Housewares Show Opens

March 10, 2012, HFN Staff

CHICAGO-The International Home + Housewares Show opens at McCormick Place here at 12:30 Saturday.

The show has been extended by a half day this year, and vendors and retailers alike are primed for an earlier start. Expect to see a continuation of some of the leading trends: lots of color, more sustainable and eco-friendly materials (especially bamboo), lots of water bottles and other portable food containers, tools for making and serving miniature sweet treats, tea and coffee-related accessories, and, of course, plenty of licensed chef collections.

There is a full slate of events planned for both this afternoon and this evening. In the Cooking Theater, Chef Rick Tarantino will demonstrate from 1-1:45 p.m., John McLemore from 1:45-2:15 p.m., Michael Feker from 2:30-3 p.m. and Theo Kalogeracos and Tony Gemignani from 3:15-4 p.m. Later this afternoon the International Housewares Association, which owns and operates the show, will present its Innovation Awards at the Innovation Theater in Lakeside, and a Discover Design reception at 5:30 in the South building. Many individual vendors also have planned evening events.